Listening to the language of the brain

It’s the greatest mystery in neuroscience: how do the electrical pulses that ripple across the brain produce our thoughts and behaviours? Working at the intersection of physics, physiology, machine learning and brain-computer interfaces, Andreas Schaefer’s lab at the Francis Crick Institute is decoding how the communication between individual neurons shapes human experience. Findings in this field have the potential to transform everything from our understanding of the mind-body relationship to the way we treat neurodegenerative conditions. Dr Schaefer will be joined onstage by Jennifer Walshe, the celebrated composer, performer and conceptual artist and current professor of composition at Oxford University. This event is presented in partnership with the Francis Crick Institute.

The Francis Crick Institute

The Francis Crick Institute is one of Europe’s biggest biomedical labs and home to more than 1,500 scientists working to understand health, disease and how life works. They carry out world-class research to understand more about how living things work to help improve treatment, diagnosis and prevention of human disease, and generate economic opportunities for the UK.

Arriving early?

Grab a drink and explore the Crick’s free Hello Brain! exhibition. Crick scientists will be on hand to chat about the exhibition and answer any questions you have about their research and life in the lab. ‘Sip of Science’ will run from 6pm to 7:30pm and is open to all Sophia Club attendees.

Andreas Schaefer

Speaker

Andreas Schaefer is a physicist turned neuroscientist. He is professor of neuroscience at University College London, co-founder of brain-computer interface company Paradromics, Inc and assistant director at the Francis Crick Institute, where he leads the Sensory Circuits and Neurotechnology Laboratory. Andreas’ research focuses on developing technology that connects to the nervous systems, as well as unpicking the cellular mechanisms that allow the brain to process information. The ultimate aim is to understand how the brain functions in the face of both health and disease. Outside of the lab, Andreas is passionate about organisational culture, theatre, and sometimes, his bassoon.

Andreas can be found on X @AndreasTSchafer

Jennifer Walshe

Artist

Jennifer Walshe is an Irish vocalist, composer and multi-disciplinary artist. She is professor of composition at the University of Oxford and has received fellowships and prizes from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts in New York, the DAAD Berliner Künstlerprogramm, the Internationales Musikinstitut, and Akademie Schloss Solitude among others. Her recent projects include Time Time Time, an opera in collaboration with the philosopher Timothy Morton, and The Site of an Investigation, a 30-minute epic commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. Her third solo album, A Late Anthology of Early Music Vol. 1 (2020) was chosen as an album of the year in The Irish Times, The Wire and The Quietus. She has a long-standing critical engagement with AI, machine learning, big data surveillance and emerging technologies in communication and connection.

Jennifer can be found on X at @JenniferWalshe and instagram at @milker_corporation

Sally Davies

Host

Sally is a writer and former executive editor of Aeon magazine, with interests spanning philosophy, science, feminism and culture.